Dear, Tom
by WritingWithTheWolves
Summary: The full story of Ginny and Tom Riddle's diary. This is not a love story, this is about Ginny being manipulated and nearly killed by a horcrux. Content warning- Mild to moderate violence, Trigger warning for abuse and some swearing This story is also on my Wattpad (SlytherinAnimagus14 or Clare Malfoy)
Ginny, still fuming from her tense run-in with the Malfoys, carried her heavy school books upstairs with only slight difficulty. As she entered her medium-sized, cozy room a small smile formed on her face. She was less than a week away from going to Hogwarts, of course she already knew a lot about the Wizarding World from her family and her books, but she was always excited to learn more. Though the thought of being away from her mum and dad and home for so long made a knot form in her stomach, she knew she would be perfectly safe, she would write them often and once she got used to Hogwarts, she would barely long to be home.

With a ghost of her smile still present, Ginny sat on her bed and splayed her books out before her on the pink, blue and white quilt that covered her small bed. She observed the covers of all of them and flipped through their pages, imagining what her classes would be like. She had heard much more bad than good about the professors at Hogwarts from the twins and Ron, but the twins were trouble makers and smart-asses and Ron wasn't very book-smart or academically driven. She was quite intelligent and not one to cause much trouble, so she should have less issues with her professors.

The books were all slightly tattered but very sturdy and with all the pages. Potions, charms, defense against the dark arts, care of magical creatures, divination, ancient runes and at the end of her line of books was a slightly worn, black leather book with no title and that was thinner than her other textbooks. She simply stared at it for a moment, it felt out of place and mysterious, as if she were not meant to see it. Ridiculous as it seemed, as this was only a little book in her school supplies, she was quite uneasy yet curious.

Ginny picked up the book without flinching and felt a dull streak of electricity shoot up her arm. The cover was only black, no cover or class on it, however there was a name engraved on the cover, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Ginny wondered if she accidentally got her books mixed up with what appeared to be someone's journal or notebook. She opened it to see if there were any more clues to the owner or why she had it, but it was just an old, blank journal. She flipped through the pages slowly, scanning them with sharp eyes, and saw no ink or drawing, or anything.

This was odder than she thought, she was wondering if she should bother telling her mother or father when she heard,

"Ginny, come down for supper before your brothers eat it all!" Her mother called from downstairs and Ginny plopped down from her bed and jogged downstairs to the dining room, where the playful banter of her bothers and her father's tales from work muted all her thoughts of the mysterious diary, for now.

 **A Few Days Later: Hogwarts Express Day!**

The whole family was up bright and early that morning. Ginny had gotten dressed, brushed her hair and teeth and finished packing her trunk and checking her room and the trunk about seven times to make sure she didn't lose anything, she had always wanted a rememberall for occasions like these. With a deep breath and the beginning of some tears, Ginny left her room, knowing she wouldn't see it again for several months, and headed downstairs to have a family breakfast before leaving for the train station.

Breakfast was bittersweet but as playful as usual, there was an undercurrent of restlessness from the children and a sprinkle of sadness from Mr and Mrs Weasly all throughout the morning. After cleaning up and sharing what would be the first of many hugs before leaving, everybody carried their trunks to the car and loaded it up, there was a spell on the trunk of the cars so it could fit everybody's stuff. She sat in the back seat and suddenly felt quite nauseous; she felt like there was a cord inside her neck that was being painfully pulled out, The Journal, I need the journal. Ginny burst from the car, her eyes wide and frenzied and her stance was that of a hunting werewolf.

"Ginny dear, what's the matter?" Her mother asked as she took a step closer to her and began to reach towards her head.

"Nu-Nothing, just forget something" Ginny murmured in reply as she sprinted into the house and up the stairs and down the hallway to her bedroom. Her whole body relaxed and she suddenly felt the breathlessness from her uphill sprint, when she spotted the diary peeking out from under the bed. She picked it up and sat on her bed to catch her breath.

As she stared at the journal, it dawned on her how silly she'd been, it was only a little, empty diary, it's not like she needed it. Yet, she didn't feel sick now that she was near it. Without thinking, Ginny picked up her bedside quill and ink and wrote

 _Dear, Diary_

 _I nearly went to Hogwarts without you, but I suppose I'm glad I remembered, it may be nice to be able to record my feeling and stuff during my first year._

When she paused her writing her words faded to nothing, she audibly gasped, why'd it do that? In its place appeared

 _I'm glad you didn't leave me behind. I need someone to talk to as well, it gets lonely suck inside your old diary. Your first year at Hogwarts, you say. How exciting it all must be, you must tell me more later. If you don't mind me asking, who are you? And how did you come across this diary?_

Ginny was trembling slightly and her thoughts wouldn't stop racing, What kind of magic is this? It was probably another stupid prank from her brothers, most likely Fred and George. She decided to reply anyways

 _My name is Ginevra or Ginny Weasly, I'm an 11 year old, pure-blood witch. It was just in with my books for school. Who are you?_

It replied instantly

 _It's my pleasure to meet you; do you prefer Ginevra or Ginny? My name is Tom Riddle; I too was a student at Hogwarts, I can't wait to hear more about your time there._

Of course, the name on the cover, thought Ginny. She dipped her quill in more ink and prepared to write back, all she wrote was Ginny, please before she was called from her concentration.

"GINNNY! Hurry up or we'll all miss the bloody train" Fred shouted from downstairs and George yelled basically the same thing right after him. She gently closed the book, wondering if it felt pain and ran downstairs with Tom cradled under her arm.

The moment she got in the car, everyone starting asking what she needed to get and what was wrong, all at once. They all asked in their own ways, some more concerned and some more teasing. Ginny could feel a hot shiver raking her whole body and her irritation was so strong that her face went numb and she felt like screaming and she clutched the diary to her chest as tightly as she could.

"Will you all just lay the fuck off? I just went to get my goddamn diary!" She snapped and her mother's eyes widened in shock before clenching to a scowl.

"Ginevra Weasley, it's no surprise that you would learn that kind of language, with all your brothers around, but I will not tolerate this disrespect." her mother scolded. Her mother had poured gasoline on the fire when she meant to pour water. Ginny rolled her eyes and huffed a long and powerful huff before looking out the window and putting her headphones in and letting the world fade away in an angry blur. Eventually it dawned on Ginny how irrational and rude she had been but her pride kept her from apologizing.


End file.
